One of a few found in a large marsh the other day. A true ‘rock star’ of the bird world… everyone loves this guy.

A little known factoid here; Around 10% of young Spoonbills are adventurers.

When they are old enough to fledge and feed themselves they join the adult population, small flocks, and follow them to known feeding areas.

But not all. A small number branch out on their own. This has saved them from extinction. An Audubon naturalist keep written notebooks for many years. The main Spoonbill population died out with the changes to Florida’s water flows. However, that 10% moved off, found new locations, and keep the species alive in North America.

Now, they live in South Carolina and Georgia. This year a few are in Virginia, and way out of place… Long Island, New York. Every year some are spotted around the US. Tropical birds blown off course, probably. Still they were far away to start with.

She was sitting up in the trees where the marsh meets some forest.

A dirt road runs through here and it’s a nice place to sit and watch the world go by. We even do it when we stop to eat.

Earlier I had seen Spoonbill fly by heading out other marshes. That can be the end of Spoonbills for the day.

Today, a couple held back to watch the silly humans out in the hot sun.

Credit to Ellen for looking up in the spot.